Parex Mather the inventor of Singeing technology is a 165 year old British Company. The company has had a very long association with India. Infact one of the oldest singeing machines supplied by Parex Mather is still running with an Indian customer since the last 94 years. Needless to say the quality and superior technology of these machines. The Gaur today represent Parex Mather in India, Indonesia, Srilanka and Thailand.
We spoke to Mr. Bob Marsden, Technical Sales Engineer, Parex Mather Limited on the company’s 165 year old history, the company’s long association with the Indian market and future innovations in Singeing.
Excerpts:
Parex Mather (PM) is a 165 years old company. Can you provide a glimpse into the history of the company?
Parex Mather is just over 165 years old. It was founded in 1852 and we invented the singe technology in the world. Parex Mather was the first producer of the singe machine and the inventor of this “singeing” process. When we started, the singeing process was via the copper plates technology. Then, in early 1920s, we invented the first gas-based singeing machine. At that time, ceramic bricks were used in the burners. In 1964, we realized that having ceramic bricks-based burners was an inefficient way of singeing, so we moved on to the new PAREX 5000 technology. Ever since then, the PAREX 5000 burner technology remains the benchmark for singeing.
What are the products and solutions currently offered by PM?
Parex Mather was earlier known as Mather & Platt. It is part of the J. Farmer Norton Group. So there was the entire range of textile processing machinery within our portfolio. Over the years we have concentrated on our core strengths in developing the singe technology. Today, we manufacture suitable singe machines capable of singeing every type of fabric like wovens, knits, non-wovens, denims, technical textiles, endless felts, carpets, lamination fabrics, etc. We provide stand-alone singe machines or online singe machines.
Which are the key global markets for PM?
Our machines are serving diverse needs of customers across the globe. However, since last five years a maximum number of machines have been installed in China, Turkey and Bangladesh. Now our focus area is India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
What is the technology advantage offered by PM?
With our rich background, we can say that no one knows Singeing better than us. We invented the ceramic-based burner technology which today is being used by most singeing machine manufacturers. In 1960s, we realized that this technology was not yielding the desired benefits because it led to a lot of complications while singeing with various fabric blends, especially knitted fabrics, denims, non-wovens and technical textiles. Also, maintenance of ceramic brick based burners is very expensive, especially when you have to replace the bricks. The main difference in our machine as compared to other singe manufacturers today is the design of our burners. Our patented PAREX 5000 burner technology is far more efficient and needs hardly any major maintenance. It is customer friendly too. Also, the PAREX 5000 technology is now suitable for all types of fabrics, including those with Lycra, viscose and elastic contents. The biggest singe burner in the world is 15 metres long and it is a Parex Mather. This is our technical expertise.
How long has PM been selling machines in the Indian market? Can you name some of the key customer?
Not many know this, but we have been supplying machines to India for over 100 years. In fact, the oldest Parex Mather singe machine still running in India is 94 years old. There are plenty of Parex Mather customers who are using our machines. We have our installations in India in wovens, knits, technical textiles and non wovens. Each machine is unique to the requirement of that customer, so I cannot tell you precisely to whom we have supplied. But what I can tell you is that we have a mix of corporate customers and medium to large enterprises.
Since how long has Gaur been associated with PM? Which are the markets other than India in which you represent PM?
The Gaurs have been representing Parex since last three years. The Gaurs represent Parex Mather for India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
What are factors driving demand for PM machines in the Indian and global markets?
The most important factor here is the role of those customers who are looking for British-manufactured machines. Even today, we manufacture our singe machines in Manchester, the UK. So those who know the quality of British machinery will invest in our machines.
Another set of customers are those who are processing knit fabrics. Parex Mather machines can eliminate the bio wash and chemical enzyme process altogether. We can provide them a more productive way of removing hairiness which is environment friendly, is cheaper by about 67 per cent than bio wash treatment, and there is no environment pollution. Plus, singeing gives a better feel to the fabric rather than bio wash.
Finally, those customers who are looking to have singeing for denims with speeds of 80 mtr/min and higher should be looking at Parex Mather as well.
How does PM take care of aftersales, service and spares for customers in India? Do you also offer remote diagnostic services?
I get this question asked very often. Honestly speaking, Parex Mather machines are the most simple to operate and maintain, and you do not need specially trained people to maintain it on a regular basis. For customers in this region, Parex Mather has set up, with the help of “The Gaurs”, fully trained engineers to maintain and look after the machines to give the customers more confidence in our product range. Parex does not require any remote diagnosis services. Genuine spares are available, irrespective of the age of the machine at a very reasonable cost as Parex believes that supplying spares is the responsibility to keep customers away from spurious cheaper ones.
Finally, what are the future plans of PM?
As reflected well in its history, Parex continuously strives to improve its machines consistently without compromising on quality. We have some new developments that we are working on, but have to keep it secret. At Parex, we always say that our machines are “Often Copied, Never Bettered”. We will continue to deliver on what we promise to our customers and we do see some exciting times ahead for Parex Mather in this region.